23:59:59

Hey, it's all to change here with a few quick announcements. The first the most important is what I to let know our colleague, my dear friend, Audie Cornish, who you have heard hosting this podcast, for the last year-and-a-half is leaving and PR this week. I know, know we kill the exact same way here already, so that, you know, she is off to start a grand, new adventure in the audio world, and we can't be more thrilled for her. She didn't just Hostess podcast. Of course. I thought he was like me a host on NPR radio show. all things considered for many, many years but, for all about his. Talents on both platforms she was so incredible off make to as like friend and collie she has been so much to this organization so many levels. and there are just Countless people inside NPR and outside Impure who are going to miss hearing her and having her. A part of NPR All, things considered is working on a special tribute to Audi there's link to it in today's episode notes for this podcast. also speaking of this podcast here's the second announcement starting tomorrow you will be able to hear able new episode of consider this every saturday yes that's right those episodes will be hosted by none other than npr some sell martin one of the best in his business and that means new episodes are considered this six Days week helping you understand big news story, know just what happened, but what it is. Nice so again that starts to marry right. thanks for listening here listening today's show We need him a new A ha started playing for Manchester City back in two thousand. For the Premier League soccer team didn't have the reputation it does now, the wasn't that much money being spent on players Francis he was huge. We can have existed, we exist in the Premier League. The new high tells NPR that in two thousand and seven and new owner came around promise to spend big on the team but instead landed there. In financial trouble, that was weird to go from.

2:00

The higher, like this, is the new beginning

2:02

to posts, and this is a catastrophe.

2:05

So many either those things were going great, his

2:07

club was in dire straits, the

2:09

future seems pretty please. And

2:11

then one day he was at home

2:14

watching the news and everything.

2:16

Changed and an of a sudden the club

2:18

which I knew.

2:19

The was a bit unstable is now just

2:22

signed, Robinia been taken over by

2:24

these people in the now calling of the richest

2:26

club in the world, those people.

2:28

The team's new owners were part

2:30

of an investment from the United Arab

2:32

Emirates. The run by a member of the royal family

2:34

and our Buddha. The, but can we should say

2:37

the you'a he has long Been accused of

2:39

being an autocratic governing

2:41

body that has carried out acts of torture

2:44

and limited free speech that,

2:46

with their money this team

2:55

Manchester City is now synonymous

2:58

with success they have won

3:00

the Premier League championship five times

3:02

in the last ten years and. Forbes rinks

3:05

them as the sixth most valuable

3:07

so.

3:07

After team in the world, he came

3:09

up absolutely nowhere, concerns

3:11

with a view of the players.

3:13

The new "A Hot Who" is now sports broadcaster

3:15

in the UK says if there was any uneasiness

3:18

about the geopolitical.

3:19

The consequences of being tied up with the UAE

3:22

yet the times he didn't see it and

3:24

he since witnessed purchases like that

3:26

one become more of a trend the

3:28

Saudi takeover of Newcastle United

3:30

is signed sealed and for these fans

3:33

something to shout about our.

3:36

size him on everyone knows about the best

3:38

sears investment five seats atari

3:40

investment authority this my son

3:43

incredibly cynical but cynical believe the

3:45

football With all the money's involved

3:48

in it. Have level of corruption within

3:50

it. For what it is, that's what

3:52

money tends to frame. The sitter

3:54

this well. be Trees

3:56

with history of human rights of. These are,

3:59

suing and

4:00

The growing interest in soccer

4:02

a lot of money changing hands at the scrutiny

4:05

about we.

4:05

Where that money comes from, does little

4:07

to stop it.

4:12

Pronunciar. I'm Elsa Chang. It's

4:14

Friday, January 7th.

4:16

Support

4:17

for NPR and the following message come

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of online therapy.

4:52

In the most season of the

4:54

Apple TV show, Ted lasso. The

4:56

player on the six know a Richmond.

4:58

Soccer team has

5:00

a it doing it you want to look at your face is

5:02

from the

5:02

device? Oh

5:04

God, I'm very nervous, but also very excited

5:07

star defender Sam Have a son is

5:09

doing an ad campaign with the team sport.

5:11

Sorry, the fictional you by air,

5:13

but then he discovers that the company

5:16

has been reckless. Polluting his home

5:18

country Nigeria it's caused by tension

5:20

that to buy as parent company sort the oil

5:22

is destroying Niger as environments are

5:24

the same time bribing government officials to look the

5:26

other way. The

5:28

computer face of one of the subsidy or. The

5:31

sonia drops the ad campaign, but

5:33

then goes step further covers

5:35

up the Dubai or. The logo on his uniform

5:39

and, his teammates island The

5:41

time am I? Well,

5:44

thank you.

5:46

This hearing, movies. The poor did

5:48

by the team's owner and then Sue.

5:51

After like magic, the team has

5:53

a whole. Whoo new sponsor?

5:58

The real world, if a player.

6:00

spoke up he would have been out of his club

6:02

before. the next game character panza

6:05

is panza reporter for the new york times who covers

6:07

the darker corners of the global sports

6:09

industry one of the things we hadn't seen

6:11

in this era of The athlete activism

6:13

really. Have been

6:16

placed speaking out over ownership

6:18

groups, Panzer has been reporting

6:20

on the very real trend of countries with

6:22

controversial human rights practices,

6:25

pouring money into sports

6:27

we talked about, one recent example,

6:29

when the Premier League soccer team.

6:31

Careful United was purchased

6:33

by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia

6:35

this past fall, you have pointed out

6:38

that there are obviously it's human rights

6:40

abuses that these fans should be concerned about.

6:43

Including the assassination of the journalist Jamal

6:45

Khashoggi by Saudi officials that,

6:48

Human rights record even slightly

6:50

enter the conversation since his purchase was

6:52

announced.

6:53

I was struck by and was kind of shocked by

6:56

how little it matters. Who

6:58

the fans of this particular team obviously expands

7:01

of other things were railing

7:03

against this, maybe for self serving

7:05

reasons, that one thing I've noticed here. wonder

7:08

if Saudi Arabia would buy another thing whether

7:10

they be just as welcome our, think they would be.

7:13

think for soccer fans they were willing to swallow

7:15

anything if there is that chance to

7:17

dream that we're gonna have a winning team on

7:19

the field, you know, I couldn't

7:21

believe what was seeing so in the

7:23

day of the takeover you had

7:26

Newcastle. Fans.

7:29

Arriving at the stadium for the first game.

7:32

The rest in phobes, you know, the

7:34

white tunics of. That

7:37

pretty for a nickel. The these guys

7:39

in the northeast of wouldn't have ever

7:42

gone to the Middle East, where we're dressed in head

7:45

to toe in gulls Gulf's The

7:48

Saudi arabian flags.

7:51

Then. Talking about how

7:53

rich that they suddenly were

7:56

chanting. The slogan

7:58

to that effect to able. The thing is

8:00

acceptable as long as you can promise

8:02

us the world. Okay, so I see that

8:04

for a lot of the.

8:05

Fan, these wealthy

8:07

countries from the arabian Peninsula buying

8:10

these teams means greater opportunities

8:12

for these clues that they are, too. The fans of but

8:14

what's in it for these wealthy countries,

8:16

too? An interest in global sports leagues like

8:18

me, see? Manchester City

8:20

is now owned by officials and United Arab Emirates,

8:23

we see a prominent side. The team in France paris

8:25

instrument is owned by Cutter,

8:27

so why is this becoming trend

8:30

there isn't bigger? Global

8:32

Platform, I would argue.

8:34

Then professional soccer the just

8:37

is not the a billions of people

8:39

around the will follow this, not just follow it casually,

8:42

it's third. So much

8:44

passion, Gnocchi think about Saudi

8:46

Arabia on the Mohammed bin salman, for example.

8:50

He is he? Launching

8:52

in effect a total reset

8:54

up Saudi Arabia. Graves

8:57

in the desert. The movie

8:59

theaters. We're just

9:01

like you, nothing says we're just like

9:03

you. than owning,

9:06

I would say, a professional

9:08

soccer team, sport I love

9:10

by billions, it really puts

9:12

these countries on a map like no other.

9:15

No other entity know other product can. That's.

9:17

All, for example, is really good one, it's smaller

9:19

than Saudi Arabia or it's smaller than Connecticut

9:22

if you're in the U.S. and small of in Yorkshire, county

9:25

in the UK. A very tiny

9:27

percentage of the world's population

9:30

would have ever heard of this place at the

9:32

time it bid for the soccer World Cup. I

9:34

would argue that been turned on it's head now. Then.

9:37

The most people would have hurt, but only

9:40

if only but it's association with

9:42

international soccer, we'll let me ask you this,

9:44

mean, as you mentioned, Cutter is going to be hosting

9:46

the World Cup.

9:47

Your by an investigation by the Guardian

9:49

last year estimated that there. are more than

9:51

six thousand five hundred migrant workers

9:54

and places like india and nepal who has

9:56

with died there since world and up planning

9:59

began The to go and,

10:01

yet these games have not

10:03

been cancelled tint. it the limit

10:06

as why do you think these revelations have not cause

10:08

more concern

10:10

This is a question or values look where

10:12

the people are coming from. We talking

10:14

about people from Nepal, Bangladesh.

10:17

And India. You know,

10:19

for a lot of people this, the distant lands

10:21

that I'm have. Then. The

10:24

real contact with maybe the guy was restaurant

10:26

down the road or something like that they almost

10:28

become known people. "The

10:31

become invisible in ways soccer

10:33

for some reason is able to pulverize

10:35

all these bad headlines we're marching

10:38

towards his big tournament or we gonna talk about,

10:40

yeah, I remember. The

10:43

day before the first

10:45

game. I'll be twenty fourteen

10:47

World Cup in Brazil. The

10:49

week before leading into it. The

10:52

UK newspaper The Sunday Times

10:54

Hard. Published this story

10:57

of how. Several

10:59

FIFA officials soccer officials had

11:01

a accepted. The huge

11:03

bribes rape and for two days.

11:06

It was huge news and then the

11:08

referee blew the whistle for the first match.

11:12

The Twenty fourteen World Cup or? The zoo.

11:15

Hosting Croatia and South Pole and.

11:17

We didn't talk about that again.

11:20

I'm also thinking about the Winter Olympics I mean

11:22

they'll be held in Beijing next month the.

11:25

white has said that it Won't be sending any U.S.

11:27

government officials to protest? The quote ongoing

11:29

genocide and crimes against humanity and seen

11:31

John but American athletes will still

11:34

be participating in those games of course so

11:36

what. do you think The larger lesson

11:39

is here. The tournament's

11:41

so these events.

11:43

The sports or, like a juggernaut

11:45

that can't be stopped, there is symbiotic

11:47

relationship between money. Sports,

11:49

federations and nothing.

11:52

No genocide. No,

11:54

no human rights abuses seems to

11:56

be a untrammeled, seems to be able

11:58

to stop that. China will

12:00

have enough global leaders there, we

12:03

will write the stories of as boycott. Yet

12:06

the games will go on. And.

12:09

Once the first metal stop

12:11

being awarded ask what's

12:13

going to be the focus of up personally

12:15

so there. was responsibility on

12:18

the made it keep pointing this out whether

12:21

well whether sports federations of willing to do anything

12:23

i have my desk

12:26

Tarik. Panda is a sports reporter

12:28

for the New York Times.

12:32

You're listening to consider this from NPR.

12:35

I'm Elsa Chang race

12:37

class and power have always been at the

12:39

Centre of the biggest conflict in American

12:41

cities and schools this summer school

12:43

colors, the new series from code switch

12:45

at NPR takes you to the front of

12:48

that struggle will go. Back in time to

12:50

explore almost a of push and pull

12:52

the tween bigotry and intolerance and

12:54

disappointment. Listen to school colors, right?

12:56

In your code switch podcast for you.